We explore the role of breath training and how it can enhance your performance

As many AW readers will know, Czech distance runner Emil Zátopek became a household name in 1952 when won gold in the 5000m, the 10,000m and marathon at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He was encouraged to run the marathon after never completing the distance before. His story has been so revered that they made a 2021 film about him called Zátopek. The Olympics aside, he broke 18 world records in his career.

Fast forward 30 odd years to the 1980s, Brazilian coach Luiz De Oliveira trained Joaquim Cruz, the 1984 Olympic 800m champion in Los Angeles. Zátopek and De Oliveira had one thing in common: they used breathing as a training tool to boost performance when their competition and contemporaries hadnt considered it.

It was new and fresh and didnt have a considerable amount of science behind the theory. Zátopeks theory was more primal than that of De Oliveira and, for both, the effectiveness of breath-holding was unknown but they knew that this type of training was simulating the conditions of competition.

During his training, Zátopek regularly held his breath for long periods while running through the woods of his local routes. He began by holding his breath from one tree to the next. Over time he increased the distance one tree at a time until he could run for a long line of trees.

De Oliveira used breathing training with breath-holds once a week with his athletes. He asked his athletes to intermittently hold their breath over various distances while training or hold their breath during the last 30m of a training series to simulate the fatigue felt in the final stages of a competitive race. These techniques were more rationally thought out than those of Zátopeks but were still not based on sound scientific knowledge.

Zátopek and De Oliveira were pioneers in their field and found fame and success so why hasnt breathing training become a popular daily practice for athletes worldwide?

Between the 1980s and today, breathing and particular breathing training for athletes has all but been forgotten. More recently, in the relentless pursuit of peak athletics performance, athletes have explored every training modality in the book. How can we elevate health, speed, endurance, efficiency and recovery?

Thomas Hague is a coach and founder of The Breath Coach and helps all kinds of athletes with breathing techniques to enhance performance.

He says: I often say that just because you breathe, it doesnt mean that you breathe optimally. We can live without food for three weeks, we can live without water for three days and we can live without air for three minutes. So, when we are looking at the small margins required to be your best, we must begin to examine our breathing to enhance performance.

Amidst your exploration of training methodologies, which likely encompass aerobic and anaerobic training, interval training, plyometrics, strength and conditioning, and utilising wearable technology, gear for data collection and as mentioned super shoes, Id venture to guess that you might not have thoroughly considered the role of your breathing.

Breath training can provide a competitive advantage and assist in various performance metrics, including boosting VO2 max, improving lactate threshold, increasing red blood cell count, elevating levels of EPO, reducing injuries, promoting overall health and happiness, and facilitating enhanced recovery.

Benefits of breathing training

The benefits of breathing training on performance consist of greater or better management of the following: VO2 max, lactate threshold, efficiency, energy, sleep and recovery, nervous system regulation, bloodwork including haematocrit and haemoglobin, EPO, zonal heart rates, resting heart rate, cerebral blood flow, posture, mobility, focus, concentration, stress and anxiety.

Everyone is unique, and in turn, their breathing is unique, so some see varying degrees of improvements over others but the incremental performance advantages are clear.

Breathing training benefits

Improves VO2 max: Breath-holding increases oxygen uptake and delivery to working cells and muscles. Over time, training with these physiological adaptations increases VO2 max. When haemoglobin is increased, so is VO2 max. A one per cent, increase in haemoglobin after breath-holding eventually results in a 0.6 to 0.7 per cent VO2 max increase.

Efficiency: By training your breathing and increasing your CO2 tolerance, you increase your efficiency or economy. Running efficiency entails utilising a quantity of energy or oxygen during a run at a sub-maximal pace. Generally, the lower the energy demand for a particular pace, the more favourable. Efficient oxygen utilisation suggests proficient running efficiency.

Flow: Achieving a flow state or getting in the zone is achievable for all athletes. It takes concentration, focus, peace, dedication and consistency. Popularised by psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura, flow is when you are fully immersed in an activity and find that things flow and become easy. Breathing can provide this with the right training. Its important that keeping focused and in control of the mind is essential to sporting success. Its the difference between winning and losing.

Recovery: This is essential for optimal performance and is often seen as time-consuming and unimportant. Its essential for muscle repair, nervous system balance and injury prevention. It holds the key to sustaining motivation, achieving hormonal balance and enabling the body to adapt and strengthen post-exercise.

To book a free 30-minute consultation visit thebreathcoach.co.uk.